Work organization in some dairies with different types of production and size

The present study reports on the analysis of the work organisation in 5 dairies with different types of production, carried out by applying the methodology of the organizational congruencies. The use of this methodology allows us to characterize work organisation thoroughly, by associating plenty of information (who, what, how, where, when, knowledge, requirements, participation, interaction…) to any elementary operation of the production process. By comparing the data collected we have highlighted the situations causing constraint and uneasiness for the workers. The situations producing constraint and uneasiness for the workers, are due to the working environment, to the way the working process is carried out and to workers’ limited involvement. The working environment often consists of one room, which is often too small to accomodate plants and workers, and the various dairying activities (butter making, cheese making, whey skimming, washing of the equipment…) are not separate. The concentration of several activities in one only working environment causes workers, dairy products and means of transport to overlap, which increases the risk of cross contamination for dairy products and of accidents to the workers. The presence and the contemporary functioning of plants expose the workers to excessive noise. High-pitch noise and inadequate lighting increase workers’ uneasiness and the risk of accidents. Another constraint is the presence of abundant water on the floor, which is typical of dairy production and dangerous too when workers do not wear safety shoes or the drainage system is not efficient. The time constraints are mostly due to the working schedule, to the pace of the production and to the lack of shift work, because the number of workers is low. In many cases the same workers would work 7 days out of 7, without any day off for economic reasons, since they come from non-European countries. The way the work is carried out requires unhealthy postures and manual handling of heavy weights, especially if the dairy factory is small and the degree of the mechanization is negligible. The contact constraints are due to the interaction between man-and-machine or man-and-product. In the first case accidental contacts often occur with hot parts (the pipes of the steam near the dairy boilers) or the cutting edges of the machinery; toes can get crushed by mobile tables during cheese moving from the production room to another room. In the second case a long contact with the whey or the hot curd (40°-50°C) during the extraction or the spinning for mozzarella, can cause irritation, rashes and burning of the skin, because workers do not take the trouble to wear any protection gloves . In many cases dairying is still carried out manually and it is based on the experience acquired over the years. The degree of workers’ involvement is low because workers carry out the instructions from the dairy man in charge of the factory, that is the only one who takes decisions and performs controls. Many constraints due to the working environment and to the use of the facilities should be avoided from the start, that is when planning and evaluating all factors that can have repercussions on workers’ comfort.